Homecoming
by Music Fantasi
Summary: We all know about how Link saved Hyrule from the Twilight, but what happened to our hero before his legend? It starts when Rusl finds him lying half dead in a pile of charred and broken carriage pieces on blood stained ground. Sidestory of Sealed Fate!


_This is one of those random ideas crowding my poor brain. _

_And this is also the story about Link's past from my story Sealed Fate. So I guess this is a side story to that._

Pain.

_It hurts._

I can't recall any memory where it wasn't there. There was always pain.

_Always there, always lurking._

Now was no exception; now that I was finally, _finally _free. For several blissful hours there was nothing but overwhelming joy, then, my newly rediscovered world exploded, and I mean that quite literally.

And the pain came, like it always does. It's the only constant in my short life.

* * *

><p>A lone man rode through Hyrule field at a leisurely pace back to his home in Ordon, where his wife, Uli, and infant son, Colin, were. He couldn't wait to see them.<p>

Though his high spirits were dampened when he realized where exactly he was. He was riding by the place where he'd met his two best friends. Two that had saved his life and were married. Two friends that brighten many of his days. Two friends that were no longer in his life...

Their names were Raven and Ropey. When he'd meet them Ropey had been in her first few months of pregnancy with their first child and both were very happy. Then Raven died protecting his family against a rather large group of beasts a year after the baby had been born. He and Ropey had stayed close and he had been like a father to her son, but Ropey was never the same without her husband. She'd always been a bit more detached and stared out into space more often. Then, to make matters worse, her son was taken...

The man, Rusl, sighed at his thoughts and noticed a young foul darting across the plain to his left. It whinnied every few minutes, like it was calling for help. Rusl's stallion started moving towards the foul. Rusl let him, curious himself about what the young mare was doing. As they drew nearer to the foul, she noticed them and darted closer. She stopped several paces away and jumped around, whinnying loudly, then dashing some distance away, before looking back at him.

_' She wants me to follow her. Hmmm... I've got time, so why not.'_

When they got close she would take off then wait for them a good distance away. Rusl followed her slowly and after a few minutes it seemed to frustrate the mare, for she stamped her feet and seemed to yell at him to hurry up. He obliged and charged forward.

The foul's eyes brightened and it too charged forward. They traveled to a place a short distance away from the road leading to Castle Town before stopping at the top of a hill. The foul kept going, but Rusl stopped and stared down in horror at the sight before him.

There, just past the base of the hill in a perfect circle of charred earth, sat the remainders of a carriage. The wood was charred and broken, the wheels crumpled to pieces, curtains torn and burned, doors kicked in, and blood all over, both from monsters and from the carriage's passengers.

A Clydesdale lay slain before the carriage's corpse, cut, broken, and burned. The poor animal seemed to have been tortured. A corpse of a woman lay half buried in the rubble, skin torn and slightly burned. Blood pooled around her head from the arrow in her throat.

All of this took only a moment to take in, but it was a moment that would scar him for the rest of his days. He was finally able to tear his eyes away from the maimed corpse of the familiar looking woman when he saw the foul nuzzling something with its nose. He urged his horse to move forward toward the young Clydesdale. She was making sounds of worry and fear as she nuzzled whatever it was with her nose. She even seemed to be crying.

" E-epona..." a small voice breathed, reaching out a small, bloody hand to touch to the horse's nose. The pain and desperation in the young voice made Rusl's blood run cold. Before him was a small, undernourished boy, curled up on his side in an attempt to lessen the pain, shaking and gasping for breath. And somehow, he seemed so familiar.

" Tha...nks...for trying...girl." Rusl's breathing stopped as the boy's hand slipped from Epona's nose and landed with a dead thump.

Snapping out of his shook, Rusl darted forward and grabbed the boy, before carefully running back to his horse. Rusl, the injured boy, and the two horses raced back to Ordon, making it in record time. Aside from his worry for the boy, he was immensely surprised that the young mare could keep up with his full-grown stallion when it was going so fast. What had the boy said her name was? Epona? Yeah, that sounded right.

He felt bad for just leaving the bodies there, but life came before death. He would come back and make sure they were properly buried after the boy is dealt with. They raced through the small farm village and went straight to Mayor Bo's larger house.

At the sight on the boy in Rusl's arms, most of the villagers hurried to Bo's as well, determined to help in any way they could.

Rusl banged on the locked door loudly while yelling. Moments later a big man with a mustache that made him look like he had tusks appeared in the now open doorway. Rusl rushed in without a word and went about putting the boy on the table.

" Rusl, what is the meaning o-" Bo stopped talking as his eyes fell on the boy who was struggling to breathe. " Dear Goddesses." He muttered.

" Father, what's going on?" asked a childish voice as Bo's daughter skipped down the stairs.

" Go get Sera, Ilia. Hurry!" Ilia cast a questioning look at her father and her eyes were immediately drawn to the blonde boy on the table. She gasped and rushed out of the house. Returning moments later with the town healer, Sera, who, along with many others, were just on their way there.

Sera glanced worriedly at the boy and started dishing out orders. " Jaggle, go get some water from the spirit's spring. Fado, go get two things of goat milk. Pergie, go get a few things of red potion. Rusl, after this is over, you will have to tell us what happened."

Upon inspection, Sera noticed that some wounds were older than others by at least two days. Like some of the gashes across his back, the deep slash that ran from his right forearm and cut across his chest to the bottom of his ribs on the left side. There was also a blistering welt that was infected on his left wrist, while the skin on the left wrist was rubbed raw. Not to mention numerous black and blue bruises.

The newer wounds included a deep wound in his stomach, a dislocated ankle, several layers of skin missing on his left hand, and more bruises forming. Patches of skin on his arms and legs were burned and scraped, small splinters of wood were sticking out of some places, and gash ran down his left cheek.

Ilia stood helplessly in the background, staring at the agony written on the boy's face. She didn't like seeing anyone like that. What had he done to deserve it, anyway?

Rusl was tending to the cut on the boy's face when suddenly his eyelids moved up to reveal the fierce blue of his irises. He looked up at Rusl in fright and flinched away when Rusl brought the wet cloth back to his face.

" It's ok, I'm not going to hurt you. No one here is. I promise." Rusl smiled a small, but warm smile. The boy found himself relaxing against his will, but suspicion still lurked in his eyes. " Can you tell me your name?"

A sharp pain shot threw him from his right ankle as they popped it back into place. He closed his eyes in pain, but didn't yell out. " L-link." He breathed. Rusl's breath caught in his throat for a moment; now he knew why this boy had looked familiar.

" Well...Link, everything is going to be ok, alright?" Link looked up into Rusl's kind eyes and nodded slightly, even though he didn't believe him.

After another few agonizing minutes, he didn't think he could take it anymore. With a painful breath, Link forced out a stuttering " Thank you" before falling still.

" No!" Rusl shouted, " Link, stay with us!" Rusl had just met back up with the boy, even if Link didn't remember all the time they spent together, Rusl would never forget it. For in those six years Link became like a son to him.

Sera kept trying to revive him, giving him potions and milk, making his heart keep beating, but Link didn't come back. " He's gone..." she said when she stopped.

" No!" Rusl flung himself over and forced Link's heart to beat, tears dripping off his nose and landing at the base of Link's neck. Ilia watched in horror, not taking her eyes off the too still body in front of her, silent tears rushed down her cheeks as she fell to her knees.

" Rusl..." Uli, his wife, started. " He's gone, honey. We did everything we could." She laid a comforting hand on his shoulder as he stopped beating Link's chest and the sobs took over.

" Let's give him some privacy." Sera said, leading everyone, even Bo, out of the door, Ilia left crying in her father's embrace.

" He's Raven and Ropey's little boy. This is their son Link. The one that Ropey went to look for a year ago, why she disappeared like she did." Rusl sobbed into his wife's chest.

" Don't.. cry... Uncle Rusl..." Heads snapped to the whisper's source. They stared at him, not believing him to be alive when he had been dead for five minutes already. They didn't understand how he could, in fact, be alive with all those injuries.

But Link knew why.

No one had noticed the slight glow on Link's left hand through all the scar tissue, scabs, and bandages. Or that the blood started pumping back through his veins only to gush out of his wounds or the small breaths he took. They didn't even notice when he'd opened his eyes.

" Link!" Rusl cried out, " You're alive!" Link smiled a bit, then cringed from the pain starting to course back into his limbs.

" Sera!" Uli bellowed. The woman came rushing back in and gasped in amazement at Link, before quickly setting back to work.

* * *

><p>It had been a few days since Link had been brought to the village and all the villagers were in Bo's living room. They had to discuss what would be done with the boy who was recovering in the room above them. " It's a miracle that he came back." Bo stated.<p>

" And that he survived all the time in the rubble and the ride here." Jaggle replied.

" It truly is. I'm so glad that he pulled through." Uli smiled, cuddling Colin.

Sera's eyes moved to Rusl, who was gazing up the stairs. " Tell us about the boy, Rusl."

He looked back at her and looked at her for a moment before sighing. Turning his attention to the floor he started. " I told you about how I met Raven and Ropey, right?" they nodded. " Well he'd been killed protecting his family about a year after Link's birth. He'd told me, days before, that if anything were to ever happen to him, to watch over his family."

"And so I did. A few times every week for six years I'd make a trip to Kakariko to visit and check up on them. During that time Link became like a son to me and was the reason why I wanted to have one of my own." He looked towards Uli and Colin. " But about a year ago when I went to their home, it was trashed and no one was there. I looked everywhere for them, all over Hyrule, and tried to find them. But it was it was no use. Weeks later I got a letter in the mail. It was from Ropey.

"She told me that Link had been kidnapped and that she was looking for him and told me to stop looking for her and to stay away, that this wasn't my fight. So, against my better judgement, I listened to her. Though I never stopped listening for rumors of their whereabouts." A single tear rolled down his cheek, but no one said anything.

A tense silence followed. No one spoke and no one looked up when Ilia walked through the room with a blue flower in her hand and headed up the stairs to where Link was resting, humming happily to herself. Fade broke the silence, " What will we do with him when he wakes up?"

" Yes, we can't just send him away. He hasn't a place to go!" Pergie said.

" He can stay here, but where will he live is the question." Bo stated.

" He can live with us if he wants." Uli said. Rusl gave her a warm smile of thanks.

" What if he doesn't want to live in Ordon? Then what-" Sera was cut off by Ilia racing down the stairs, a panicked look on her face.

" He's gone! Link's not in his bed anymore!"

" What?"

" Where did he go?"

" What happened?"

" I was just gone for a moment!" Ilia cried. Rusl didn't waste anymore time; he was out the door searching before anymore questions could be asked.

" Link?"

* * *

><p>I had woken up in an empty room, covered in blankets and bandages and lying on a big, comfy bed. But, more importantly, I was alone. I don't know where I am or what is going on and I don't remember anything after seeing Epona standing over me crying. More reason to run now before I'm caught. Where, I don't know and I don't care. Anywhere where people aren't after me.<p>

Quickly and silently, I jumped out of the bed and, ignoring the dull throbbing pain that sprouted to life throughout my body, jumped out the window to the soft ground below. I have to get far away before they have time to realize I'm gone, if not, they'll get me. Looking around to make sure there was no one around to see me, I dashed across a small bridge and to a ledge with a big tree on it. There I hid in the shadows.

There were people walking around and no way was I going to get past all of them without being seen. This place was too open and people were in just the right places to make sure that I couldn't hide anywhere else without being seen by someone.

With a sigh I slid down and sat, waiting for the pain throughout my body to ease off some. I noticed there was a rhythmic thumping noise that was getting steadily louder, but I can't seem to put my finger on what the noise is. I silently stood back up to try and locate the source of the noise, then it hit me.

Literally.

Suddenly Epona came bounding up and tackles me to the ground. I land on my back with the mare rubbing her head on my chest lovingly. I laughed quietly even though it hurt my chest and stroked her cheek. " I missed you too, Epona."

" Link?" a concerned voice rang out over the village. I froze and silently urged Epona into the shadows with me. The voice sounded very familiar, but that doesn't mean I'll trust it.

" Be quiet and stay hidden, ok?" I whispered. Epona made a noise in the back of her throat. " Good girl." I kissed her nose that hastily climbed up the vines growing on the tree. Slowly and carefully, I begin inching my way forward on the thick branches of the tall tree and take in all that is going on.

I was in a very small village, a herd of goats to my right were grazing in a big field in front of their barn, and a small creek ran through the middle of the village leading to a small pond. But that wasn't what caught my attention. It was all the worried people running around calling my name that did. I'm not used to that; people I don't know worrying about me. They're definitely not my normal captors; they sounded infuriated when I managed to avoid them.

" Link! Where are you?" that same familiar voice shouted. The amount of emotion in that man's voice made me completely positive that these weren't the people that were after me; well and that it was a man and all his captors were female and most, if not all, were now dead.

I know him from somewhere, I know I do, but I can't remember where or when. Most of the memories I can recall are full of the constant pain and are smeared with red. I can't remember a lot from before My Living Hell, they were coming back slowly, but this man was not in the memories I do remember.

" Link?" A new voice shouted. This one as well sounded worried, but it was high pitched and came from a blonde haired girl around the age of six. From underneath me Epona made a noise.

The bark under my feet creaked loudly right as the familiar man walked under it, making me curse under my breath and become completely still. The man looked up and examined the tree limb carefully, walking around so he could see from all angles. Luckily, my ragged clothes blended well with the tree.

" Epona? What are you doing here? Ilia was supposed to put you in the barn with the other horses."

" Hey?" a big man yelled while running from the entrance to where all the goats were.

The other man looked towards the voice's owner. " Fado, any luck?"

" None. What about you, Rusl?" The burley man said.

' _Rusl...' _I remember him now...

I remembered this man, the man that was like my father when my actual one died. The newly remembered memories flashed before my mind's eye so fast it made me dizzy. They swirled around in my mind, bouncing around and crashing, clashing, crunching, churning, slamming, smashing together as I tried to discover what it was that I was actually remembering.

I brought my hands to my head in an attempt to get the pounding in my temples to stop. It didn't help. Each memory wanted me to reflect on it and tried to cram its way to the forefront of my mind. I heard Epona winnie worriedly from below me, catching the two men's attention. I groaned quietly in pain and one of them must have heard him because they yelled out to me, which only made my head throb more.

The pain and memories began to fade and blur. Fuzzy blackness started to creep its way over the rainbow of colorful memories. I swayed and I felt my hands drop on their own accord. The last thing I heard was Rusl calling out my name before I knew no more and my body slipped off the high branch to meet the ground so far below.

* * *

><p>I woke up to hushed, angry whispers from a group of people below me and to my right. I didn't want to wake up, the aching in my head was still going strong and the memories were already begining to fight for my attention. And to top it off, my whole body hurt, practically screaming '<strong> You friggin' idiot, what the hell were you thinking?'<strong>

With way to much effort I shoved everything back and focused on what I was hearing. There were many different voices in this discussion.

"What are we going to do about him?" a deep voice asked. Of course it was about me.

"I don't know. I do know that we can't send him away. He hasn't a place to go and there are apparently people after him." a strong female voice said. Should I stay here? Rusl's here after all...

"That's all the more reason to make him leave. He'll put us all in danger!" a male voice yelled. That was true.

"We can't send 'im to face them alone th'n. He's jus' a lad!" That sounded like that man, Fado. I snorted softly. I've been dealing with that alone for sometime now.

That one man was right though; I can't put these people in danger like this. Sure a lot of the people who were after me are dead, but there are always more. It was a hard fact to face, but I know that I will never be able to live the way I once did. Not with the power in me.

"So you're finally awake once more." Rusl says from my left. I say nothing, just open my eyes and look out the window I had used in my failed escape. There was a lock on it now. "That was the second time you've scared us this week."

"Us?" I looked at him doubtfully. People caring for me feels so weird and new, but in a good way.

He gave me a strange look. " Yes, 'Us'. The whole village was worried sick when I brought you here and when you suddenly disappeared." At this Rusl gave me a look that meant I was in trouble. I looked away again.

" Speaking of which, why did you run?"

I watched a bird as it landed on the windowsill for a moment before some noise sent it fluttering away. I wish I could fly away like that, from all my problems, from everything. "I was afraid."

" How about next time you check who's around first?"

I looked back at him again. "If I always did that, then I would be dead." My voice sounded hollow even to me. I could tell that this confused him, couldn't blame him. I know that I'm no where near the same person I was in his memories of me.

"What happened Link?" I really didn't want to talk about it, but he did seem genuinely concerned. I looked away again. Why could I not hold his gaze? Was it all the worry and concern in it? "Fine. I can see you're not ready." He walked over to the window and undid the lock. " Just remember that you can come to me anytime."

And with that, he left. I wondered why he would. I had already tried to escape once, what made him think I wouldn't again? And he had even unlocked the window! Though, no matter how tempting it was, I couldn't. Maybe that was what Rusl wanted; for me to want to stay.

Should I?

My mother was dead, I didn't have anywhere to go, and had no one to go to. Plus _they_ could still be after me. The thought of being with those evil thieves again made me shudder. If I stay here then I'll have Rusl, the only person close to family that I have left. If I stay here then maybe I can feel like I belong somewhere and have people glad to have me. If I stay I could finally have a home.

"Rusl? Why are you no longer with Link?"

If I stay I could be putting everyone in danger...

No, I can protect them. I can tell them everything and see if they except me. Then I can put this power to some use. I'll protect them all.

" If he decides to run now, then there isn't much we can do about it."

I'll work hard and repay them for their kindness. I'll get Rusl to teach me everything he can about swords and fighting. I'll train and become the strongest I can. No more harm will come because of me. Not anymore.

Having made up my mind, I slowly descended the stairs before I had more time to think about it. I stood there awkwardly at the bottom of the stairs, not knowing what to do now.

" So you didn't decide to run like a coward this time?" the male voice said. It was the same person that had said that I was a danger. He was kinda short and his face was all mashed together and in.

" Haggle!" Sera yelled, " That was completely uncalled for! You apologize right now!"

The man, Haggle, made a face and made no move to do so, I cut in, " It's alright." I whispered. They seemed surprised that I actually spoke and stared openly at me. I had to look away.

A slim woman came over to me. She had soft eyes and short blonde hair. If I remember right, this is Uli, Rusl's wife. " Are you feeling better Link?" She seemed very nice.

I want them to know that I will be ok no matter what else happens to me. Even if I have to go and face this world alone; I'll be ok. I want to make sure that they believe that nothing will keep me down. With a deep breath to calm my nerves, I grabbed my left hand in my right, and smiled the friendliest smile I could manage. " Much." Again they seemed shocked. I stifled a sigh; was there no pleasing them?

" Well that's good." She recovered quickly. I let my smile die, but kept a happy expression. Ok, so, the happiness and strength may be fake now, but I will make them real. I'll make myself strong so nothing will break me again. And to do that, I need to be able to push emotions back and make certain ones come forth. I can do this. I have to.

" Now that you're feeling better, we have somethings that need to be discussed." Mayor Bo said. I remember hearing the girl, Ilia, say something about him while she thought that I was asleep.

" Like what?"

" Like what happened to you." Rusl said. I looked at him and bit my lip. I really didn't want to tell them, my resolve started to weaken. Wasn't he the one that told me to talk about it when I was ready?

I sighed and let the mask fall along with me to the floor. I plopped down and leaned against the wall. " Where would you like me to start?" My voice sounded hopeful, hopeful that they would see what this would do to me and say that it was ok; to tell them when I was ready.

" When you were first taken, boy." No such luck apparently. They all seemed so interested and concerned. Can't wait till they find out the truth, let's see what they think about this 'boy' then.

" It was the middle of the night. They came silently and left the same. The only thing that gave them away was me. I struggled and screamed for my mother, but they were strong and they took me away.

" I didn't know why I was taken or where I was for the longest time. They would just come in at different times and demand my power. I didn't understand, but I knew that if I had something these people wanted, I shouldn't let them have it. So I told them no and they beat me."

I paused for a moment to look up from the floor to their faces. They seemed horrified. Ha, they haven't heard anything yet! My gaze turned back to the floor. "They'd beat me to the brink of death then stop. Until I was almost completely recovered they would not return but to give me food or drink. Then the cycle would continue. It went this way for the first month or two.

"Then things started to change. I started healing faster and faster and was getting braver at rebelling against them. I started to not care what my punishment was, I just wanted to escape."

Again I paused, building suspense I guess. When I could feel that someone was about to yell for me to continue, I finally did. " Around my fourth month in that Hell, I started to realize I couldn't remember things. I couldn't remember what my room or home looked like anymore. I was even starting to forget my mother's face.

"But I held on to it. I was determined not to forget her and as I fought to keep it, others left. Like my memory of you, Uncle Rusl." He seemed sad. " I managed to escape a few times. The first few times I didn't get very far, though I figured out that I was in a place full of sand-a desert." Some eyes widened as they started to catch on.

"Then I started studying them. I memorized their movements, the way they talked. I'd get out of my cell and watch them spar and fight. I memorized everything they did and decided to wait for the perfect time to use that knowledge against them.

" I figured out why they wanted me and what my 'Power' was a few weeks ago. There had been a different lady tending to me that day. She was against what they were doing to me but didn't care enough to act on it. So instead of helping she just did a lighter punishment then the others... Can I have a glass of water?"

I needed to stop at least for a moment. It was all still pretty fresh and I really didn't want to talk about it. I felt sick just thinking about it all. " Of course." Sera said and Fado rushed off. I wish he'd go slower and give me some more time. They seemed glad for the moment of silence as well. This must be hard to take in.

No one said anything, and I was glad. Too soon, however, Fado came back with a big jug of water for me. I thanked him with a smile and took my time sipping at it. Ok, no more delaying.

" Then a few days ago my mother appeared. She had fought her way into their hideout and found me. I was so happy to see her, but I couldn't say anything for the guards were coming our way on their patrol.

" I crept along in the shadows and went behind them, then lunged out, grabbed one of their spears and knocked them out. Mother had seemed so surprised and shocked that she had just stood there staring at me with her mouth open." I laughed a little before becoming somber again.

" We snuck through the hideout, doing whatever we needed to do to get out alive. It seemed too easy; I had tried getting away many times and it had never been that easy. That's when I noticed that we seemed to be being herded towards something, but it was too late.

" We entered a room and there was a giant monster in there. They had let it out so that it could get rid of us. The first one it went for was my mother. I tried to get her to move but she wouldn't; she was rooted to the spot in fear. So I did the only thing I could think of and tried to kill it." I laughed again, though it sounded somewhat hallow.

I felt like an old man retelling his life's story and scolding his younger self for their foolishness. " As you could guess it didn't go too well. I was knocked out of the way and my back hit one of the spikes on the wall. I was sure that I was going to die then as I started to black out..."

That's when I heard them. They were telling me to be strong, that I could do this. They told me how I could defeat that monster and gave me their strength. Right before I opened my eyes I saw their faces flash before me. There was a green haired girl, a Zora, a Goron, a Gerudo-she looked so like the one against the others plans-, a white haired female warrior-sheikah-, and an old, wise looking man. They all smiled at me and I knew who they were.

" Link?" My eyes snapped up to Rusl. Guess I stopped talking and zoned out for a few minutes there. I don't think I'll tell them about the Sages. It just doesn't feel right to let them know. Maybe some other time.

" I'm fine." I couldn't get out more than a whisper. I rubbed the bandage on my left hand. Please, give me the Courage to finish this.

" Maybe you should stop now, son."

"No." My voice sounded strong and sure and I felt the rush of power and courage wash through me. I looked up at Rusl with new determination burning in my cobalt eyes. " I am going to finish this."

" Before you do, can you tell us who 'They' are?" Hanch asked.

" The inhabitant of the Desert, the most cunning thieves Hyrule has ever known; the Gerudo." I would have thought that by telling them that I was held somewhere in the desert would have given that away. I hated speaking their names. " I don't remember clearly what happened when I woke up, but I managed to defeat the monster and the majority of the thieves. And with the power that I house I got my mother and myself safely to freedom."

" When you say defeat do you mean..." Uli asked.

I looked at her feeling no remorse, " Yes, I mean that I killed them." I may not have liked the Gerudo, I hated them with everything in me, but I didn't like the fact that all of their blood was on my hands. My soul is drenched in their blood and the painful death I gave each and every one of them, but I will not let it sadden me. They deserved it.

I gave them a minute to digest everything I had said thus far and kept my eyes on the floor. " We were heading to Kakariko. I was finally going back home and was happy, but it didn't, it _couldn't_, last." I said bitterly. " We were attacked by the remaining Gerudo, several DarkNuts and a band of Bublin archers."

I don't find the need to continue; I'm sure they can piece together the end result. I didn't want to talk about that part at all anyway.

" How did you survive that?" Rusl sounded amazed.

I looked up at him with a You've-Got-To-Be-Kidding-Me look. Haven't I mentioned it enough? It's only the reason that I had to endure that hell! " My power." Wonder if they'll be able to guess what that is. They're giving me weird looks now; so guess not.

With a sigh I held up my left hand. I can feel the sad smile that formed on my face was I tore the bandages off to reveal the smooth skin that should be an ugly scab. I held it up for them to see the glowing triangles on my hand. " I have the Triforce of Courage."

I was terrified. Terrified of what they'd say, of what they'd do. Would they go crazy and try to take it from me? Would they except it? Would they tell me to get out, to get lost? Would they still let me stay? I can't stand to look at their faces any longer. The Triforces influence is still there, but I just can't. Will they except me still?

I felt arms around me, pulling me into a friendly embrace. I looked up to see Rusl and that's when I noticed I was crying. It wasn't a loud, sobbing cry; No, it was just tears flowing down my cheeks. I'd been taught that crying was a weakness and punished every time a tear fell from my eyes.

" I-I'm sorry." I whispered reaching up to rub my eyes.

" For what?"

" For c-crying." My voice cracked.

" You don't need to be sorry; you have every reason to cry." Uli said from beside me. It was now that I noticed all the villagers present were around me, smiling kindly.

" You can just let it out. You need not be strong in front of us all the time." Sera comforted me. And I did. I had so much pent up emotions that I couldn't seem to keep hold of my resolution to always seem happy. I needed this.

" C-can I still stay? Even though I have this?" I asked after I had calmed down.

" Of course!" Mayor Bo shouted.

" You'll always be welcome here." Fado smiled.

" And we'll do everything we can to keep you safe." Rusl whispered to me.

I looked them all in the eyes, not believing what they were saying. A grin formed on my lips as my last tears fell down my cheeks. " You won't regret this! I'll help in the village and practice at swordmanship and protect this village as best I can!" They just smiled and laughed.

After a few minutes I spoke again, " May I ask a favor of all of you?"

" Oh course, my boy." Rusl told me with a warm smile.

" I don't want to dwell on my past or grieve for the deaths of my parents anymore; they're together and in a better place... I would like it if you would treat me like I had lived here my whole life, like I've never been to Hyrule, like I've never fought and killed, like I don't have the Triforce of Courage. I...I want to start over. I won't look back, but I will never forget. Could...could you all please do that for me?" I looked up at them hopefully. I don't want to be treated special because of my past or power. I was Link, and that is who I will always be, no matter what.

" Oh course, my boy." Rusl whispered warmly and everyone smiled at me. They seemed proud and it made me happy. This is what home feels like. I am home. My smile grows bigger.

" Welcome home"

* * *

><p><em>Soooo what do you think?<em>

_I always love giving people scaring and horrible pasts, because then it makes them more awesome in my eyes when they can go on and live and be happy. To me if you can go through Hell and come out and still smile, even if it takes a little time, it shows how strong you are. _

_Anyway, hope you enjoyed and as always __**please REVIEW**__._

_**~3~MusicFantasi**_


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